One conventional fishing reel includes a gear assembly that transmits the rotation of a handle to a spool, causing the spool to rotate in either a high-speed winding mode or low-speed winding mode. It is common that such a conventional gear assembly is provided with a high-speed gear and low-speed gear each rotatably mounted at the inner end of a cylindrical handle shaft to which a handle is attached; a switching shaft having an operating portion at its outer end and fitted inside the handle shaft slidably in an axial direction; a switching member (also referred to as the “movable top”) slidably mounted at the inner end of the handle shaft in the axial direction but unrotatably relative thereto. The switching member may be biased by a pair of springs in both axial directions.
In such a gear assembly, the switching shaft may be inwardly plunged against one of the springs to engage the switching member with the low-speed gear. This engagement integrates the handle shaft with the low-speed gear. Thus, the spool is switched to the low-speed winding mode. In order to switch the spool to the high-speed winding mode, a switching lever, attached to a retaining portion of the base of the handle, is pivotally operated to permit the switching shaft to freely move in the axial direction. By this operation, the bias of the spring causes the switching member to move outwardly in the axial direction to engage with the engagement portion of the high-speed gear. This engagement integrates the handle shaft with the high-speed gear, whereby the spool is switched to the high-speed winding mode. The positions of the high-speed and low speed gears may be exchanged.
In moving in the axial direction, however, the switching member may become inclined or slanted relative to the axis due to axially exerted forces by the pair of springs, each of which is arranged at the both sides of the switching member.
To address this issue, Japanese Examined Utility Model Publication No. H7-39413 (hereinafter “413 Publication”) discloses an improved gear assembly where a switching member (movable top), having a projection at its inner end, may be fitted into a receiving cylinder arranged at the inner end of a handle shaft to prevent the inclination or slanting of the switching member.